At the Old Red Mill Park, Again

It was a quick stop. We had just finished lunch with friends at J-Cat across the road. "Let's go to the park," our friend said.

The Old Red Mill Park in Jericho is one of my favorite places. There's a one-half mile trail through a wooded area that loops along the Browns River. We didn't hike the trail today, but we enjoyed the scenery where it begins.

Ferns growing in a wetland area.

There are a lot of huge rocks in the river with the waters flowing over them. 

Of course, there is the old mill, now housing an historical museum, including the Snowflake Bentley Exhibit. 

Just stopping here even for a short time today reminds me that I must return
soon, and to hike the loop.

What a beautiful day in Vermont today to spend with good friends.

(Looking back on my posts, I see that I took photos and wrote about
coming here in 2012: The Old Mill Park. Ten years ago! And several
visits since.) 

Happy Springtime!

The Old Mill Park

Today is a beautiful "early May day" in Vermont. Today, however, is March 17. Vermonters are out in shorts and neighbors are raking their yards. Too good to be true. No doubt Mother Nature still has a snowstorm or two up her sleeve before May really arrives.





This is also a perfect day for a hike at the Old Mill Park in Jericho. So we packed Lucy in the car with  a few extra treats and we drove to Jericho via Skunk Hollow Road.






The Old Mill Park is one of my favorite places.
                                                                             

 

A great way to spend St. Patrick's Day!

Our trip to Bridgton, Maine

Geo and I, with Lucy, just returned from our visit with Addie in Bridgton.

Lucy was eager for the adventure of the road trip. Here's Lucy.

Bridgton is a delightful little town and the home of the Rufus Porter Museum. Addie showed us some of the Rufus Porter murals that are on display.



We enjoyed some great meals, especially the local seafood. "Lobstah," anyone?

Truly outstanding was the "Portuguese Seafood Stew" which included LOTS of seafood simmered in a red wine broth, memorably yummy. The Old Mill Restaurant in Harrison rates 5 stars ***** for this dish!

We took a scenic drive from Naples along highway 114. When I saw the reflection of trees in the calm lake water along the road, I just had to pull over and I began snapping lots of photos. Here are just a few:

This was Lucy's opportunity to do a little rock climbing.

And I just relaxed and took in the scenery.

Lucy and I enjoyed our morning walks to Shorey Park in Bridgton.We walked on this bridge with the flowers and watched the waterfall.

Sunday morning we went to Mass at St. Joseph's. There was a beautiful statue of Mary outside of the church. Another "Panasonic Lumix moment."

Then it was on to Ricky's Cafe for breakfast. Here's Geo while we waited outside for our table.

On the way home we stopped in Bath, New Hampshire. There was a busy smokehouse between the buildings.

Here is the town's general store where I had a peanut butter cookie (self-service, leave your money on the counter) ...

and the ice cream shop where Geo enjoyed a banana split. A nice break along the way.

It was a short trip, but so nice to see Addie again and fun to spend a few days in the vacationland of Maine.

The Square

The business association of my Mom's hometown is sponsoring a contest about recollections of downtown. It's a contest, so I just had to enter. Here's what I submitted:

My Mom Marion was born in Town of Hull in 1919 and my Dad Alex was born in 1905 in Mill Creek. My Dad’s first job was at Uncle Pete Kaminski’s grocery store where he learned how to be a butcher. My Dad later worked at Rudnick’s grocery store on the corner of the Square, and that’s where he met my Mom.

For as long as I could remember, we traveled on vacation from Racine to Stevens Point to stay with my Grandparents Anna and Joe Bonowski. One of our first and frequent stops would be Market Square. My Dad looked forward to meeting his friends on the Square and talking in Polish, of course, about the old days. A lot of farmers would be there selling beans and other vegetables. It seemed like my Dad knew most everybody, but then a lot of people had shopped at Rudnick’s in those days, including my Grandpa. When my Mom was still a young girl, she and her sisters went with my Grandpa to Rudnick’s. The handsome butcher carried the groceries out to the car where the sisters were sitting in the back seat. He smiled and said, “I’ll take the one with the brown eyes.”

Years later, my Mom (the one with the brown eyes) worked as a maid and child care provider to one of Stevens Point’s prominent families. In the evenings she would go to Fisher’s Dairy to buy an ice cream cone. She would eat that cone very, very slowly as she walked back and forth in front of Rudnick’s, hoping to be noticed by the handsome butcher who worked there. They met, became engaged, and in 1945 they were married at St. Casimir’s Church, Town of Hull.

The Square was the center of all the activity in town. It was where my parents met and fell in love. For me, no trip to The Square was complete without including a stop at Fisher’s Dairy for a double scoop cone of raspberry ripple ice cream, and my Dad reminiscing about his days as a butcher at Rudnick’s.